Quick Links

Immigration revisited

On Monday, Lowcountry Business Today will take a look at immigration of hispanics into the area and the demand that's creating for Spanish-language skills.

The story is business-oriented, rather than looking at the political or legal angles. However, we've got a sidebar on an effort to pass an ordinance on Hilton Head Island to give local law enforcement some more authority to deal with illegal immigration.

Part of what's interesting about the story is the sheer mass of Hispanic people moving into the state and our area:

"U.S. Census data released in August puts South Carolina tops in the nation in its increase in foreign-born residents between 2000 and 2005. The jump from 115,978 to 170,750 represents an increase of 47 percent, with nearly 35,000 of the new immigrants being Hispanic.

"In the Palmetto State, Beaufort County has the second-largest Hispanic population. In 2005, 11,566 immigrants lived here - up 52 percent from 7,596 in 2000."

Meanwhile, I'm putting a brief on the nation page about a town in Georgia that's all but died since illegal immigrants were chased out by the Feds.

"STILLMORE, Ga. - Trailer parks lie abandoned. The poultry plant is scrambling to replace more than half its workforce. Business has dried up at stores where Mexican laborers once lined up to buy food, beer and cigarettes just weeks ago.

"This Georgia community of about 1,000 people has become little more than a ghost town since Sept. 1, when federal agents began rounding up illegal immigrants.

"The sweep has had the unintended effect of underscoring just how vital the illegal immigrants were to the local economy."

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for
following agreed-upon rules of civility. Posts and
comments do not reflect the views of this site. Posts and comments are
automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some
comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules,
click the "Flag as offensive" link below the comment.

Isn't that sort of like saying that drunk drivers keep the liquor stores in business, so we should encourage them? Or that the crackheads supply income to people who otherwise would not be working, and cause an increase in demand on our police departments so we can hire more officers, so they, too, are a necessary part of our social structure?

The cost of illegals to any community far outweighs the benefits. They do not pay property taxes, and so do not pay for the schools - that have to have ESL classes, which cost (with rooms, teachers, and supplies) about $50,000 apiece. They consider our medical care a 'free benefit', and of course overwhelm the Emergency rooms and free clinics. If an illegal gets hurt on the job, employers are not paying Worker's Comp for them, so we foot that bill, too. They choose to live together in structures that cannot support the size of the 'families' therein (so that the bulk of their money goes home to Mexico), and put an increased demand on all infrastructure - police, fire protection, water and sewer, recreation - yet pay for none of those. They are unlicensed drivers without insurance, so when they slam into somebody on our roads, they usually leave the scene - leaving the innocent injured parties to foot ALL of the bills, both medical and repair. This causes ALL of our insurance rates, as well as emergent medical care, to escalate. These are the hidden costs that no one wants to talk about.

And - they are ILLEGAL. I realize that breaking the law in this day and age is something everyone shrugs at, and, "As long as you don't get caught..." is the attitude. They are here on a basic illegal premise, and that is only the beginning.

I agree with much of your argument, WC. As usual, you've written a thoughtful post. The impact of illegal aliens on public school systems and health care services can't be ignored. But while the illegals aren't paying their fair share in taxes, they're paying a lot more than many people think.

Unless they're sleeping under bridges or in their cars, they do pay property taxes. Or more precisely, the landlords to whom they pay rent pay the taxes. They pay sales taxes. And most illegal workers pay income and Social Security taxes. That's because most don't work off the books. They borrow, steal or just plain make up SS numbers to give to employers when they're hired.

There's a certain justice in this, BTW. It's estimated that there are 10 or 12 million illegal workers in the US. (pick a number! lol!!)

"In 2002 alone, the last year with figures released by the Social Security Administration, 9 million W-2s with incorrect Social Security numbers landed in the suspense file, accounting for $56 billion in earnings, or about 1.5 percent of total reported wages."

Unless the law is changed, not one of these workers will ever get a penny back in benefits. All the more for us.

As the story posted by Jim shows, these workers have ingratiated themselves into our economy. Can't live with 'em.. can't live without 'em. The House immigration bill would toss them all out. That sounds straightforward, but anyone who thinks it'll work in the real world is dreaming. And forget about any border walls. Didn't work for China. Didn't work for France. Won't work here.

The Senate bill would fast track millions of them toward Green Cards and eventual citizenship. What?? Reward illegal conduct while short-changing legal immigrants who have been playing by the rules? It stinks.

I definitely do not have a brilliant plan for solving the illegal migrant worker crisis. And it is a crisis. I'm just pointing out, by using the tax issue as an example, that this isn't something we can fix by putting a bag over it and slicing it off. It's one that's going to require extensive and delicate surgery, because like a sneaky malignancy, it's grown little roots and branches into every corner or the country's economy. I'm open to any suggestions.

PS - I've seen where you're familiar with Sun Tzu and Machiavelli. Now I see you're also a fan of Frank (plans within plans) Herbert?? I'm REALLY impressed, WC!!

When you say that illegals do pay property taxes because of the rent that they pay, you are half-right. They pay property taxes on, say, a three-bedroom house - which normally holds 5-6 people at most. Then they put ten to twelve people in it (or more). If you base your infrastructure costs on accepted algabraic formulae, as in providing 1 fully paid for and equipped cop per every 105 people, the property taxes paid on one house even under normal occupational parameters does not fund that one cop. Adding more individuals - who are not paying the appropriate tax - into that equation reduces your efficacy and infrastructure support. Now think about how that relates to firemen and those expensive trucks, the school system, and even the demands placed on your water and sewer systems. 10 people in a house that is piped for five, repeated over and over in many such-rented units, causes a heavy increase in costs for expansion and repair, which one household's charges simply do not cover, which translates into raised rates for everyone.

So where does all of the money come from for the infrastructure costs that propertry tax does not pay for? Why, sure, some comes from LOST tax dollars and sales taxes, which the purchasing illegals do pay. But

Some comes from grants from the State and Federal Government, which are based on population - most frequently the LMI population. Since there is no accurate count of the illegals nor of their income, the grant funding for the area is reduced. Grants will not pay for infrastructure for people whom they cannot 'see'.

Some comes from ticket income from police officers. Since that fluctuates widely - and since few illegals have proper ID or addresses - they frequently end up in jail for infractions, which costs us rather than pays us for their traffic infractions.

Some comes from business licenses. Many illegals work outside the system, not paying for business licenses when they establish their own businesses (landscaping, housecleaning, painting, and even construction work). Since business license fees are established on tax returns of the businessess, and illegals do not file tax returns, they pretty much establish and run their own businesses without government involvement... which costs taxpayers.

There's a lot more than this, but this blog could run on for pages, and few are really interested in the facts of cost vs benefit...they prefer the emotional arguments.

And I have been a huge fan of both Herbert and Heinlein since I was 12! LOL Heinlein for utopia fantasy (Stranger in a Strange Land) and Herbert for comparative socioeconomic factors, and the delicate balances in political factors that can be understood and manipulated. Grin. Thanks for noticing!

While the illegals pay some taxes, they don't carry their weight. But then again, under our system of progressive taxes, it's a given that our wealther citizens pay more than their fair share, while the poorer ones pay less. That would be true even under a flat tax. So the taxes the illegals pay are directly proportional to the serf wages they're paid. And the taxes they pay aren't that much less (in fact, are probably roughly equivalent) to the taxes a family of citizens would be paying if they earned the same income!

One quick solution to the illegal worker problem is one I've beaten to death here before, so I'll be brief. Crack down on the businesses who hire them. While some illegals have their own (unlicensed and uninsured) businesses, the vast majority work for Americans who are breaking the law just as surely and knowingly as the immigrants who work for them are. They are specifically hiring illegals because they're cheap and they don't complain. Start throwing these business owners in jail, seize their property, etc., and watch how fast the jobs for illegals disappear, and with them, the illegals. It'd be a hell of a lot cheaper to pull off than some supersized high tech border fence.

And I could run on for pages, too!! lol!!

I love Heinlein too, although he could be a tad sexist (Farnham's Freehold). Herbert's "Dune" may be sci-fi, but as you know it was inspired by the alien (to us) complexities of Arab culture. Substituting melange for oil rounds it out. When I first read it as a teen (150 or so years ago!) I thought he made up the word "jihad"! For all the reasons you say, I'd highly recommend it today.

And now, as a certain spice saturated 12th-stage Guild navigator might conclude, "I did not say this, I was not here..."

I always thought the Dune series was a parody like Gulliver's Travels, but Herbert's writing is more complicated and the parody references are not as clear as Swift's. I enjoyed the Herbert's books and also the movies based on them. Great entertainment.

I know a lot of people feel that way about Herbert's works; parody, entertainment value, etc. But like many fiction - especially science fiction - writers, Herbert cloaked his geopolitical and socioeconomic ideas in fiction so that they would be more palatable - and more widely read, as well as more insidious into the thoughtstreams. And, yes, Ovidsen, I too drew the oil/melange connection out of that too - also the fact that harsh physical and mental oppression trumps military book sense in the training of a truly dedicated-to-the-death, victorious fighting force. Would that our leaders, supplying Nikes for troop training marches instead of boots, had learned that, even a little bit. (No, I'm not proposing that we take our all-volunteer army and put them in the desert with stillsuits to fend for themselves!) But it explains why the desert "freedom fighters" are so convinced of their own righteousness - and suggests real ways to circumvent that.

But, back on topic, I agree that simply throwing the illegals out is a fantasy; the approach must be to eliminate the reason that they come here in the first place - the employers who are hiring them and profiting off of their sweat, not having to pay all of the SS, the Worker's Comp, all of the other fees and taxes that come out of a legal documented worker's salary. A wall is a great and impressive deterrent -to some, the only deterrent - but swift, impartial, and definitive law enforcement (we already have the laws in place)against illegals and those who employ them is the first real answer. If you want a stray dog to leave, you don't feed it. Then you build a fence to keep it out of your yard. If there's nothing in your yard to attract it, it won't dig under the fence trying to get to it. OK, that was a mean analogy - but it is practical.

Refuse to pay for their medical and educational expenses if they do not have valid work visas and SSNs? Can you imagine the soft hearted outcry that would ensue - "But they NEED it!" - never mind that the cases of multiple and once controlled diseases like tuberculosis have exploded once again here in the US, simply because
the illegal people who bring it here are not treated in their home countries; and, once they are treated here, do not take the medication properly, causing the diseases to alter and transmit even more readily from the illegals to others. We talk about how terrifying and deadly pandemics can be spread by legal travellers - how much greater are the chances of pandemics being transported in the lungs and bloodstreams of illegals? But let's close our eyes to that because it's prejudicial and mean to even say such a thing. (I'll bet the Indians who died of smallpox said the same thing... at first.)

Hit in the face with a ladder while on the job. Doesn't speak English, no identification, his 'employer' has brought him. Very ticked that he, the employer, has been hit in the face with ladders before and never had to go to a doctor. After listening to the tirades and 'stuff' about the 'system' and more for an hour, a bystander would correctly surmize 1) the kid is illegal; 2) the 'employer' doesn't really carry workers comp; 3) if they go to the ER, all this will come out; 4) no translator, no photo ID, no service at Doctors Care; 5) no translator brought by 'employer' because he doesn't want everyone to know he is doing wrong 3 ways from Sunday. So the kid goes back to whatever job he illegally holds, with an ice pack on his face.
2 jobs ago, I had to run every new employee through SSA. If they didn't wash, off the payroll they went. Most fake docs come from NC. An NC DL is as common as dirt for the illegal community. I don't want to support them. I have trouble enough supporting the legals, I can't support myself. They are not entitled to my tax dollar.

One solution is to either buy Mexico, like the Louisiana Land Purchase, or offer to make it a state. This way, developers would flock to the scenic tropical paradise and build expensive homes as they did in Florida and Hawaii for retirees and second homes for the wealthy.

This building boom would both keep many workers there and might even encourage some to go back. We would save some money by not having to patrol the border.

We would invest in schools with English as the primary language and Spanish as a secondary. Eventually, the citizens would become more educated and would become an asset for industries wanting hard working people. After all, IBM computers started the first personal computer plant in Boca Raton, so the tropical environment must be a contributing factor in being inovative.

thye more than likely wouldn't get service based on their race. That's roght folks I said it. Now I have said time and time again that I don;t support illegal immigrants however the legal immigrants have my full respect. Actually pisse doff my boss and ended a discussion about our distaste for taxes and hte such and what you can qualify for. I then made the statement that I thought it was unfair that a working family of 4 who makes $8 too much a week does not qualify for reduced lunch, yet the illegals are getting it hand over fist. Conversation abruptly ended.

Two years ago I worked with a young hispanic kid here on a LEGAL work visa. Well he too got smashed in the face, BAD. I met him at the ER, workers comp, "real" employer information in hand, and I even spoke "some" spanish and thankfully so did he. He received the worst treatment I'd ever seen. They had ABSOLUTELY zero employees or spansih forms for that matter. How do they get correct medical treatment? But I wasn't really suprised, afterall it was Hilton Head medical and I had to advise them on how to correctly administer rabie shots the prior year, but anywho......

Then earlier this year, I had another LEGAL worker get a severe laceration on the arm. He too was accompanied to the HH ER, had another employee with him who spoke Spanish. He could not believe how poorly the ER staff treated this guy. Not just in terms of lack oof understanding or compassion that he was hurt, but treatment as well. Discrimination at it's best.

But back to the subject at hand..........
I think Spanish should be taught at schools. Why do we at as a country balk at learning another language?

I also think the kids should be required to speak english at school, regardless unless they are in their "language class"

Comments are welcome, so long as they are civil. A Facebook account is required. Abuse may result in the commenter being permanently blocked. Personal attacks are strictly prohibited. We reserve the right to remove any comments at any time.